Rebel

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of my new love, Rebel. He is the most amazing horse! After I sold Lakota, I haven't really had a horse at the barn which I absolutely loved, so I haven't wanted to spend as much time up there. That is until Rebel came along! I was up cleaning stalls the other day and I told Darren, I forgot how much I love being at the barn. People think I'm strange when I tell them I love to clean out the stalls. I turn on my ipod and muck away with Rebel. It is absolute heaven!

A couple of weeks ago, I knew a friend was not feeling good and I decided to make some cream of potato soup for her family. I found a great new recipe and wanted to try it out. I had all afternoon to spend at the barn so I hurried and made it and the instructions said to let it simmer. While I was at the barn I kept having the thought that I needed to check the soup. I was enjoying the smells and the sounds of the barn and I didn't want to leave, but I kept having that thought. Finally I decided to just check on it so the thought would go away. As I walked in the door, I immediately got a whiff and knew something wasn't right. When I walked into the kitchen, I could see the smoke coming up off the pot and curling along the ceiling from my soup. Just then Kennedy, who was laying on the couch watching t.v. said, "Something stinks Mom." I yelled, "Yeah, it's your dinner! Open the sliding door so I can get it out of here!" I thought I had put the flame on simmer, but it was a full out torch under my potato soup. Thank goodness I came in when I did or we would have had a fire. I ended up throwing the pot away because it was so scorched. The smoke damage was bad enough in the house that we thought we were going to have to call the insurance company, but I bought an ionizer and wiped down all the walls, aired out the house and odorized everything. What a mess! Even though it has been a few weeks, I still get a whiff every now and then and I get a knot in my stomach as I remember what could have happened.

I'm grateful I kept having the thought to check the soup. I know it was the Holy Ghost prompting me to go and when I didn't listen, it got louder and more persist ant.

Here is the recipe.... just make sure you turn the flame down to "simmer" not "raging boil!"

Cream of Potato Soup

In a large saucepan, boil 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered, 1 small carrot finely chopped, 1/2 stalk of celery, finely chopped and 1 small onion, minced in 1 1/2C. vegetable or chicken broth. REDUCE HEAT, cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender. Then mash the mixture slightly. Add in 2 1/2C. milk.

In a small mixing bowl, blend 3T. melted butter, 1T. flour, 3T. dried parsley and
1t. pepper. Let simmer for several hours over LOW heat.

When ready to serve, add 1C. shredded Swiss cheese and let stand for 5 minutes.